Wednesday, November 13, 2024

Evening star and star trails

 Venus is the Evening Star.  At magnitude -4.1 it is the brightest object in the sky, other than the moon and the sun.

E-M1iii + 45mm f/1.8

Star trails over Bristol Head.  Leica 9mm f/1.7

Bristol Head is lit up by the 11.5-d waxing gibbous moon.  It is almost impossible to take a long exposure without getting lots of airplane tracks (and satellites).

Monday, November 11, 2024

Summer triangle in the moonlight

Bristol Head is lit up by the 10.1-d moon as the Summer Triangle sinks into the west at 9 pmA single puff of cloud lingers near the center of the trio.

Sony A7iii + Samyang AF 24mm f/1.8 + Hoya Sparkle-6 filter.

The stars of the Summer Triangle are Altair (left center), Vega (right center), and Deneb (top center right).


 

The sun is putting on a show

Massive prominences are visible in hydrogen-alpha light.  The following images were obtained with a Lunt LS50THa double-stacked telescope and an ASI178mm camera.

 The first image in each pair was obtained at 10:21 am MST, the second at 11:05 am MST, about 45 minutes apart.

10:21 am, 11 Nov 2024

 
11:05 am, 11 Nov 2024


10:21 am


11:05 am

10:21 am.  rotated 90 deg clockwise.

11:05 am. rotated 95 deg clockwise.

The camera position changed between exposures, requiring some rotational adjustment.



Sunday, November 10, 2024

Massive prominences on the sun. The moon and Saturn have a close pass.

The first clear day in quite some time.  A perfect opportunity to see what is happening on the sun.  

The telescopes used:  Lunt LS50THa double-stacked hydrogen-alpha scope, and an AT80EDT with a Lunt solar wedge for white-light imaging.  The camera used with both was a ZWO ASI178mm monochrome camera. 

Both scopes were shooting through the open south-side bedroom window because I didn't want to go outside and shovel snow around the outdoor mount.  

Hydrogen-alpha.  Lunt LS50THa.

Limb prominences

sunspots, white light.  AT80EDT


In the evening of the same day, the 9.3-d moon passed within about 1/3 degree of Saturn. 

The moon and Saturn.  AT80EDT.

Earth's orbital path will cross through the plane of Saturn's rings early next year.  The rings are becoming harder to see as this event approaches.




Tuesday, November 5, 2024

Venus and the crescent moon

 Monday evening twilight.  The 3.2-d crescent moon and Venus were eye-catching above the southern flank of Bristol Head as the late-afternoon clouds dissipated.

Sony A7iii + Nikon 180mm f/2.8 Ai-s.

Olympus E-M1iii + Olympus 75mm f/1.8.

Comet C/2023 A3 and a meteor.  Olympus 75mm f/1.8.

75mm f/1.8

The comet is still there, but getting fainter.  It can be seen with binoculars, but that will become harder as the moon gets brighter.


Sunday, November 3, 2024

Time change, early morning

 This morning clocks reverted to Standard Time.  When I stepped out onto the back porch at 5:30 am (MST) to grab some firewood I spooked a deer.  I also noticed that stars were visible in spite of some clouds low to the horizon.

Jupiter currently rules the late evening and early morning sky.  At magnitude -2.7 it is 3.3 times brighter than Sirius.

Orion and Jupiter over Bristol Head.  E-M1iii + Leica 9mm f/1.7 lens.


Saturday, November 2, 2024

Evening star, Barnard's Star, our star

 Venus is now the "Evening Star".  It is currently the brightest planet, at magnitude -4.

Venus, 31 Oct.  Olympus 50mm f/2 ED

Barnard's Star (circled).  01 Nov, 7:50pm MDT. Nikon 180mm f/2.8 Ai-s.

Barnard's Star is 6 ly distant and has the largest proper motion (movement relative to the more distant background stars) of any known star (10.3 arcsec/year).  It is getting some attention because of the close pass by comet C/2023 A3.  Barnard's Star is more than twice as old as our sun, and will live much longer, over a trillion years.

Our star, the Sun. 01 Nov.  AT102ED f/7 + Lunt solar wedge.

The sun is near the peak of the current solar cycle, with many active sunspots.